The Mass Media Serves the Interests of the Corporate and Political Elite

We live in a society in which media has such a great influence on us, yet the influence is only in certain aspects and on certain people. “Mass media is arguably the most influential in molding public consciousness” (562). People might think that media is managed by a combination of different people but in reality, since the number of media companies is decreasing, only certain people control the industry and what gets to be put out to light. Since media is mostly controlled by a few people who belong to the 1%, the information that goes into the media is influenced by their beliefs as well as race, class, and even gender. Media influences every aspect of our lives since “media plays a key role in defining our cultural tastes, helping us locate

A liberal is a person that believes that the government should provide equality for all, while a conservative is a person that believes in limited government and that the government should provide the necessary freedom for people to pursue their own goals. Over time, it has been argued, mostly by conservatives, that there is a liberal bias in the media. Liberals have combated this idea with the belief that conservative media is devoted to making efforts to invoke fear and division in the general public. Though liberals make a fine counter-argument, it is easier to observe that the media is liberal-biased. The liberal versus conservative debate can be compared to facts versus values. Another reason for bias within the media is that a significant percentage of minorities, or smaller groups within the population that are often thought to be poorer, politically identify themselves as liberals. To make these minorities feel like the government is on their side as well as everyone else’s, the media must accommodate the needs of these minorities. Because of this, the media becomes liberal-biased.

Grimes, J. N. (2010 January-December). The social construction of social problems: "Three Strikes and You 're Out" in the mass media. Journal of Criminal Justice and Law, 2(1-2), 39-56. doi:Ebscohost database

The media in American society has a major influential impact on the minds and beliefs of millions of people. Whether through the news, television shows, or film, the media acts as a huge database for knowledge and instruction. It is both an auditory and visual database that can press images and ideas into people's minds. Even if the individual has no prior exposure or knowledge to something, the media can project into people's minds and leave a lasting impression. Though obviously people are aware of what they are listening to or watching, thoughts and assumptions can drift into their minds without even realizing it. These thoughts that drift in are extremely influential. The massive impact it

The media, interest groups, and political standard is a fascinating marriage in our mechanically exceptional social order. It is better comprehended when differentiated into their singular commitment to our social order to positively feel their effect on our day by day lives. Broad communications is characterized as a method for correspondence that achieves a huge volume of individuals in a short measure of time (broad communications). Interest groups could be better seen as an aggregation that is resolved to forestall or help change open arrangement without the need of being chosen (Twyman & Whitney, 2009). Furthermore, popular conclusion is characterized as the whole of all unique convictions in a given populace. By understanding what these parts of the current political ideal model should speak to we can better see how this marriage has been tainted and the electorate is, no doubt deceived.

As the book “Framing American Politics” by Karen Callaghan and Frauke Schnell, they define framing as “selecting and highlighting some facts of events or issues, and making connections among them so as to promote a particular interpretation, evaluation, and/ or solution”. What framing means is the act of mass media to use journalism as a way to promote vicious and biases that can affect political decisions in people’s perception. On the other hand, sensationalism is also used to create or highlight a fake bubble of overhyped news. Framing and sensationalism have contributed to the creation of stereotypes affecting the moral of thousands of people. As Mitchell Stephens the author of “A history of News” states, “The golden age of political coverage that journalism critics pine over – the era when reporters concentrated on the "real" issues-turns out to have been as mythical as the golden age of politics”. In reality, even though mass media is the only resource for immediate news, they are not a truthful source because politicians are allowing this behavior because its main purpose is to gain revenue from the innocence

Malcom X, a civil rights activist once said, “The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” Even though Malcom X died in 1965, his words still ring true today. The glamour of technology and the media has a tendency to ensnare the minds of the public. People are too quick to believe anything they believe, and don’t stop to ponder the concept that the information they are being fed is in fact false, or at least doctored into something similar, but still untrue. The constant use of technology in this generation is detrimental to society as well as individuals because it worsens people’s self-esteem,

With news headlines like “Ebola: The ISIS of Biological Agents?” and “Kylie Jenner’s Puma Sneakers Look a Lot Like Rihanna’s,” it’s no wonder why so many Americans are clueless when it comes to the important issues of today (Cavanaugh; Walano). Sensationalized headlines and reports of Justin Bieber’s latest haircut mingled in with the legitimate and concerning issues has muddled up much of what the public perceives while watching the morning and evening news. Even worse, mainstream mass media is often rampant with inaccuracies, bias, and agenda-setting. Compared to the various components of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” the mass media of contemporary society is comparable to the intellectual and psychological confinement of the Cave. The

Mass media has played and will continue to play a crucial role in the way people perceive African Americans. Such as labeling all blacks in engaging in drug use, criminal activity, and welfare abuse. As a result of the overwhelming media focus on crime, drug use, gang violence, and other forms of anti-social behavior among African-Americans in society. The media has just promoted a malformed and harmful public perception of African-Americans. This causes people to be more cautious towards blacks and as result are more careful in what an individual says around them. Overall the media especially has crushed young African Americans’ prospects for future employment and advancement. People now have a certain outlook on African American’s and as more discrimination occurs in the world, another type occurs which is religious discrimination that guides a more negative social behaviors and

In contrast, it is unfortunate that it is upper-class corporations that control and oversee what is being exhibited and exposed in today’s media. On television, we see shows such as Real Housewives (From Wherever), The Bachelor, The Rich Kids of Beverly Hills, and My Sweet 16; these shows revolve around the wealthy (and often racially white) and their outrageous spending habits and lifestyles. Television today is riddled with the sensationalism of striving to be wealthy, which has also carried into print media with sought after issues of magazines aggrandizing designer gowns and accessories that the average American could never afford (Newman Study Site). On the other end of the socioeconomic scope, we see shows such as Jerry Springer and Judge Judy, mocking individuals of the lower class and their tawdry struggles of “who’s my baby’s daddy,” cheating scandals, and teenage children out of control. Then, if we observes show like Fresh Off the Boat and Black-ish where we can see the sensationalism and discrimination of stereotypes based on race and ethnic upbringings. Worst of all, is the local and national news programs. Whether the news is from television, printed newspaper, or read online, the viewpoints are greatly skewed and presented to its viewers with biased opinion (Newman Study Site).. For example, take what is going on in our society today between those of the black race and their local law enforcement—the news depicts the members of these black communities as troubled individuals and thugs, but does not show the larger group of peaceful protesters. Sadly, our media revolves around the sensationalism and discrimination of information, race, gender, and social class and creates the involuntary bias to mock the poor and envy the

Until the 1980s, the control of the media was in the hands of the national government. From then, the control shifted to private outlets and by the 1990’s, there were more than fifty multinational companies who controlled it (“Mass Media”). Today, only about six major companies control the larger fraction of media in America (Williams, Par. 1). Norman Solomon wrote in the New Political Science Journal that most reporters and editors work for just a few huge companies. These journalists and editors are on the payroll for “mega-media institutions”, of which, only about six exist (Solomon 297). How much will the public learn if these companies generally control the output of information?

Mass media is considered one of the multiple factors that impact today’s society, the biggest of them all being, television. The media is powerful enough to dictate what people learn about current issues throughout the world and how they interact with one another. Most people believe information is based on what they read and see in the media, rather than basing it off of personal experiences. Due to this decision, professionals in the T.V. industry are extremely good at figuring out what will appeal to the mass majority. At the same time, they easily manipulate messages to encourage people to buy products and believe in certain ideas. One great example of this is an adult animated sitcom titled, American Dad. This show features a psychotic,

Media outlets such as WorldNetDaily, and Fox News are seen by some as promoting conservatism. Fox News is “vital” to the conservative movement, said Republican Jim Gilmore, former governor of Virginia. In correspondence a 2009 Research poll found that Fox News is potentially the most ideological channel in America, with 47 percent of respondents saying Fox is “mostly conservative.” A rather more accurate perception, to some, may be that the media is conservatively biased because of its conservative corporate bosses. To many of these indigenous people state that there is a media monopolization that poses a serious threat to not only pluralism, but also the First Amendment of the United States of America. Other evidence of conservative bias in the media exists in media coverage of the controversial question of abortion. Many argue that the commentators put on shows where the issue is abortion are almost always white male

As Griffin (2009, p. 364) so concisely stated, “the media aren’t very successful in telling us what to think, but they are stunningly successful in telling us what to think about”. In more recent times, the direction of this theory has changed. Scholars have begun to focus on how the media “frame” social issues through the inclusion and omission of certain attributes of particular events (Ruddock, 2013). “Framing” refers to the forming of narratives and concepts that deliver meaning as an event unfolds (McCombs and Shaw, 1972). Themes such as media violence, particularly in the event of a school shooting, are often used to repeatedly reinforce social norms that are deemed important by the media. As a result, generic stereotypes are inevitably cast and the potential copycat behavior advertised.

Now, more than ever, we are inundated with current events and stories we would never have heard ten years ago. Our level of awareness as a nation is setting us on a path of progression, with information one swipe away with a smart phone among other devices. The mass media outlets ultimately control the narrative and information presented to society. The dangers of the media can include: the use of choice words, special camera angles to make an event look much larger, loaded questions toward interviewers, the creation of hysteria, and the projection of their beliefs. The media knows what incites emotional responses and work while straddling a fine line to engage the public within their journalist guidelines. They can use tricks of the